


Knowing You

by Jenn1



Category: Spider-Man (Movies - Raimi), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Not A Fix-It, Romantic Friendship, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-07-11
Updated: 2005-07-11
Packaged: 2017-12-31 10:28:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1030627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenn1/pseuds/Jenn1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Mary Jane's 19th birthday. Going to the fair with Peter promised to be a fun day, but Peter never shows up. Will M.J. have the birthday she wanted?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knowing You

 

\- 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 -

The air was filled with the laughter and shouts of people. Everywhere one turned there were people in the air on the different rides or on the ones on the ground eating things like popcorn or cotton candy. Everyone was having a wonderful time, without a care in the world. That was not completely true. There was at least one person at the annual fair not enjoying herself. Well, unless you call waiting for someone who had not shown up a good time.

Sighing, Mary Jane Watson looked at her watch again. It had not moved much since the last time she had checked, which had been five minutes ago. The July sun shone down on the nineteen-year-old's red head unmercifully.

Where was he? The 'he' she was referring to was Peter Parker. He was supposed to have met her at the fair over an hour ago. But Peter was late,  _again_.

Seeing an empty table with a few chairs, Mary Jane sat down. She looked around to see if she could find Peter anywhere in the crowd. M.J. did not see a familiar face among them.

M.J. absentmindedly toyed with the silver bracelet on her wrist. Harry Osborn had given it to her this morning as a birthday present. She thought it had been a nice gesture on his part, but Mary Jane hated the idea that he spent so much money on her. Even though they had broken up a long time ago, she was relieved that they remained good friends. Harry was a great guy, but he was not for her. It did not have anything to do with Harry's emotional state since his father's untimely death eight months ago. No it had to do with M.J. herself, she did not love him.

Looking at her watch, Mary Jane saw it was half past four. Peter was supposed to have met her at the gates at three. After waiting in front of the gates for some time, Mary Jane just paid her own way in. Mary Jane did not bother going on any of the rides. Why go stag? It was not fun to go alone. It would not be any fun to play any of the games on her own either. Fairs were meant for family, friends, and couples, not for someone on their own.

Thinking back to when she was a child, Mary Jane had not gone to many carnivals or amusement parks when she was little. Maybe when she had been very young, M.J. was not sure. But when she was a little older and living in Forest Hills, she never went if she could recall. Her mom had been working, and her dad lay on the couch drinking the day away.

M.J. put her hand on her chin, still remembering. No, she had been to a carnival when she was ten, before school had let out. Her class had made a day of going to the carnival. That had been a fun day for her. She had her friends to ride the rides with and play the games.

But remembering back, Mary Jane knew Peter, who had also been in her class, didn't have any friends to ride the rides with. No wait, Peter had ridden with Liz Allen. But that was because no one else would, and Liz had not been happy about the teacher pairing her up with him. But when Liz could get away with it, she rode with someone else or even by herself, leaving Peter to ride on his own at times.

Looking back on it, M.J. wished that she had maybe gone on a few rides with him. But no, she had wanted to stay with her friends and not ruin it by having to spend any time riding with Puny Parker. Forget it, no way, not going to happen. Funny how things can change in ten years…

Mary Jane was startled awake. Had she fallen asleep? Looking around, she noticed that it was starting to get dark. Had she slept the whole day away?

_Peter never showed up._

That really bothered M.J. Oh; it was not like this was the first time. But Mary Jane really thought that with it being her birthday, Peter would have made some type of effort to hang out. Especially after he had promised.

Getting up, Mary Jane figured she should just go. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled wearily. That did not help; M.J. still felt the burning dampness under her eyes.

_No, I'm not going to cry._

Not sure if she believed that, M.J. picked up her pace. She wanted to get out of the fairgrounds as fast as she could. Walking as fast as she dared, Mary Jane all but ran out of the gates. But by then, a tear had trickled down Mary Jane's cheek.

Not bothering to wipe the moisture away, Mary Jane continued walking. She did not let herself really cry. Why should she? M.J. was getting mad.

Why had Peter even promised to come if he was not going to show up? Or if he had, why not try to get a hold of her on her cell phone? Mary Jane was working herself into a fine temper.

But her next thought stopped M.J. cold.  _What if Peter is hurt or…or even-?_ She couldn't complete that thought. So caught up in conjecturing what could have happened to Peter, Mary Jane wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings.

Stepping off the curb, M. J. thought she could safely cross. That was until a delivery truck was suddenly boring down on her, its horn blaring told her otherwise. She did not make a sound, nor did she try to get out of the way. Mary Jane was frozen to the spot she stood on, too terrified to move.

One minute she saw the truck coming at her, the next she saw everything in a blur. Mary Jane felt the wind blowing on her face, but that was not the only thing. She knew that she was flying in the air with Spider-Man again as she had once before.

The ride did not last long; he swung to a nearby rooftop and landed on it. Setting her down, he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes," M.J. said still a little unraveled.

With it being nearly dark, Mary Jane could still sort of see Spider-Man, thanks to the light from the other buildings. He did not look the same like as the last time she had seen him. That felt like a lifetime ago.

The last time Mary Jane saw Spider-Man was about eight months ago. She could never forget that night when Spider-Man risked his life for hers and the tram full of kids. That was something M.J. never wanted to have to relive ever again. But then what were the chances of ever facing another nut case?

"Are you sure you're okay?" Spider-Man did not sound convinced.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Mary Jane knew he was studying her. With his white eyepieces, M.J. had no idea what the masked hero was thinking. What did he see when he looked at her?

Not sure what to say, she said, "I haven't seen you in awhile."

"In your case it's a good thing," Spider-Man answered dryly.

"Hey," M.J. said in mock offense. She knew he was teasing, but his statement did have truth to it. Mary Jane guessed this would be the…fourth time he had saved her life. She liked Spider-Man, but it seemed like she never saw him unless she was in trouble.

"You do seem to have a knack for getting into trouble." Sitting down on the roof, Spider-Man made himself comfortable.

M.J. was going to sit down next to him, but stopped. What? Was he reading her mind? Mary Jane very much doubted Spidey had the ability to read minds, especially hers.

"It was a joke, M.J." Spider-Man must have thought she was offended.

"I know it was." She was not going to tell him that she had been thinking that she was accident-prone or something. Sitting down next to him, Mary Jane sat Indian style.

"Where were you going that you were in such a hurry?"

Mary Jane sighed. "I was supposed to meet a friend at the fair, but he never showed."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Feeling like Spider-Man was looking at her intently, Mary Jane could not help but wonder who the man under the mask was. She had thought at one time maybe it was someone she knew, but M.J. was not so sure. But she just did not know.

"Spider-Man," she started then stopped. Was she crazy?

"What?"

"Can I… would you let me see who you really are?" Mary Jane held her breath. What would he think about her request?

"You want me to show you who I am?" Spider-Man's voice portrayed that he thought she was insane for asking him to show himself.

Okay, maybe she was crazy. But the worst he could do was say no, which he had all the right to say. But would Spider-Man truly reveal himself?

"I just want to know. You told me once that I knew who you were."

He just sat there without saying anything. It felt like an eternity. Finally Spider-Man spoke. "Alright."

M.J. blinked. "Alright?"

"Alright as in, you can see who I am."

"Really?" Now that the time had come, Mary Jane could not believe this was really happening.

"Mary Jane," Spider-Man paused, not raising his mask farther than his nose.

Frowning, M.J. had expected him to take off his mask, but he had not. That was not the only thing bothering her. Spider-Man's voice sounded very familiar to her. It sounded like…Peter's voice.

_Wait, Spider-Man has Peter's voice?_

"Mary Jane."

M.J. opened her eyes, coming awake. It was not dark - the sun was still brightly shining. Raising her head, Mary Jane saw she was not alone. The person standing next to her was not Spider-Man, but none other then her best friend, Peter Parker.

"Peter, you came." Mary Jane wanted to snatch the words back. Maybe it was just the memory of the dream. Standing, she wanted to see what he had to say.

"It took me a few minutes to find you. When I did, you were sleeping the day away." Peter laughed a little at that, but it was an uneasy one.

Expecting to hear why he was late, M.J. figured she would have to ask herself. "Why were you so late, Peter?"

"I got…caught up in the middle of some things. I'm really sorry for having you wait here for so long."

"It's okay," but Mary Jane knew it was not okay. Peter looked sorry enough without her saying anything more about it. So she just kept her thoughts to herself.

"Oh, I nearly forgot to say happy birthday, M.J."

She smiled warmly at him. People always say 'happy birthday' to the person it was for. But from Peter, the simple traditional saying was endearing to her.

Looking at Peter, Mary Jane saw that he was wearing blue jeans, with a royal blue button down shirt. It was not that they were a bit faded, but the fact he was not in a T-shirt.  _What possessed him to wear a long sleeve shirt in this heat?_  Mary wondered. M.J. supposed the shirt was lightweight and loose, to be worn comfortably. And Peter did have the sleeves rolled up some.  _But still…long sleeves during summer time?_

Since she was staring at him, Peter asked, "What's wrong?" He looked down at his clothes.

"I didn't think too many people wore long sleeves this time of year."

"Oh, well, I ah, burn really easily. I don't have to worry about always putting sunscreen on."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Did your boss let you have the day off because it was your birthday?"

"Enrique? No, I don't think he even knows it's my birthday, and even if he did, he won't care. I'm glad to be out of the  _Moondance_  for at least one day. I guess you can say it was my lucky day because it fell on my birthday, Tiger," Mary answered with a smile.

"Well, I guess we should get started looking around to see what we can do first." So they started walking around the fairgrounds.

"Where were you, Peter?" Mary Jane knew he had not really answered her question from before.

"I had been running a little late. And there was…" Peter took a deep breath and continued. "There was a traffic jam. Because of an accident on a construction site."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I think so."

A thought came to Mary Jane, she spoke without thinking. "Was Spider-Man there?"

Nodding, Peter did not say anything about the wall crawler.

"What happened that Spider-Man had to be there?" Mary asked. She had hoped that Peter would tell her without even having to ask. Maybe he did not want her to know what happened, or maybe Peter did not really know either.

"One of the beams fell. I think when that happened one of the workers lost his balance and nearly fell to his death too. But luckily Spider-Man was there to prevent the beam from killing anyone and saved the construction worker's life."

"So everyone is fine?"

"Yes. Um, can we talk about something else?" Peter asked. He did not look very comfortable talking about what happened. "I think I had enough excitement for today," he added, like she did not understand what he meant. "You know, seeing all that."

"Of course," Mary Jane said. "Sorry if I gave you a hard time, Pete." She was feeling guilty about being mad at him earlier. Here he did not have any control over the matter. It was too bad he did not have a cell phone so he could have called.

Peter gave her a smile, one that she thought was the same boyish grin he always had. Looking around, Peter asked, "So…did you want to ride anything in particular?"

Thinking for a minute, Mary Jane thought of one. "How about the roller coaster?"

"Sure."

Heading toward the ride, Peter and M.J. walked in silence. They got into line to wait their turn to go on the coaster. Getting seats near the front, Mary Jane asked, "You're not afraid of heights, are you?"

Peter started laughing. He managed to say "No" between his mirth.

"I didn't know if you had a problem with heights," she told him truthfully.

The roller coaster started, preventing Peter from saying anything. As they gained speed to go up then to go down the first time, M.J. watched Peter out of the corner of her eye. Just like her, he did not hold onto the hand bar, and like everyone else, raised his hands in the air as they went down. She felt the wind in her face as they went down too.

 _He really doesn't mind heights,_  she thought as they got off at the end. Though the coaster was fun, Mary Jane had experienced flying in the air before.  _That_  had been something else.

Thinking about that, she remembered her dream. If Peter had not interrupted it, whom would she have seen?  _This is ridiculous_. M.J. had no idea what Spider-Man looked like. It could be anyone.

"What do you want to do next?" Peter broke into her thoughts.

Startled, Mary Jane turned a little red. "What? Oh, I guess I can go for something to eat. Are you hungry?"

"Sure." Peter nodded. "How about something healthy like a hot dog?"

"At least it has some of the four basic food groups that we need," Mary Jane laughed.

"Along with the popcorn and cotton candy, right?"

"Hey, don't mock cotton candy. It has a source of fiber the body needs," she tried to say it in a serious tone. Mary Jane may have been able to pull it off if she was not smiling at him.

Reaching the hot dog stand, they each got one. They ate them in silence as they walked around. M.J. wanted to suggest a game, but she forgot it when Peter broke the silence.

"You never really said earlier, are you okay? I think I frightened you a bit when I woke you up."

Mary Jane felt herself blush. Blast it, she hated when she did that. Peter was looking at her, waiting for an answer. Forcing herself to meet his blue eyes, she answered quietly, "I had a dream. About Spider-Man."

"Oh," he did not say anything to that. But he asked, "What was it about?" Peter must have realized that it was none of his business because he added, "Sorry, you don't have tell me."

"No. It's okay." M.J. honestly was not sure she should tell him, but she trusted him. "He was saving my life. And well, we talked a bit. But for some reason, I started wondering about what he looked like. So I asked him."

"You  _asked_  him?" Peter's voice and face were incredulous.

"He didn't just reveal himself," Mary Jane went on the defensive. "Spider-Man was a bit hesitant about it. But he started to pull off his mask, but stopped."

Mary Jane remembered all too well that Spider-Man only rolled his mask up to the point she had herself seen when she kissed him that one time. But she was not going to tell Peter about  _that_. It was too incredible and memorable to share with anyone. That was something she was going to keep to herself…and Spider-Man.

"So, you didn't see him?" Peter asked, interrupting her thoughts. M.J. looked at him, but his face was unreadable. Not wanting to look at him when she said the next part, she looked away from him.

"I don't know if he would have shown himself. But before I did see his face, he spoke by saying my name. It sounded like your voice, Peter."

"Me?" Peter's voice caught on that one word.

Mary Jane looked back at him. He was tense, but what she noticed were his blue eyes. They were filled with emotion, one she could not identify. But the idea of Peter Parker being Spider-Man was insane. Right?

She was not so sure. There had been that time in the cemetery at Norman Osborn's funeral. That kiss had been incredible, just like Spider-Man's had been. Was it possible, sharing two earth-shattering, amazing kisses from two completely different men? But as mind blowing as the idea was, she must be crazy.

Before she could say anything, Peter spoke. "You must have been waking up then. I said your name. So your subconscious mind heard that. Which in your dream, you thought I sounded like Spider-Man."

"That must have been it." M.J. did not have an explanation for it. But she wondered, if Peter had not woken her up, would she have seen Spider-Man's face? Who would it have been? She of course had no idea what he looked like.

_"You know who I am."_

The memory of those words whispered in her mind. She did not know! Until she ever saw Spider-Man without his mask or if he ever told her who he really was, she would never know. Pushing those thoughts aside, Mary Jane asked, "Want to go on another ride?"

"Sure."

They spent the next hour riding the different rides. Some they went on more than once. Both Mary Jane and Peter enjoyed themselves, but they enjoyed each other's company more. They played some of the games. Mary Jane was able to get a few rings on a cone, and she walked away with a small neon orange elephant. Not wanting to be outdone, Peter tried one of the games to win a prize.

He tried the one where he had to throw a ball to knock three jars down. If Peter could do it three times, he would be able to get a big prize. He had five tries to throw the ball. The first time he missed, only knocking down the first one. The next two times, Peter knocked all three of them down. He would have to knock down the next three to win a big prize. But he only got two. This was the last chance. And…he knocked all three down!

"What do you want, M.J.?" Peter asked turning to her.

"I'll take the strawberry."

Peter eyed the stuffed fruit. The strawberry had arms and legs and face in the middle of its body. Not to add to all that, it had a green hat on its head. Not to mention that it was more than three feet tall, had it been able to stand on its feet.

Seeing the problem, the vendor told Peter, "Tell you what buddy, you can leave this here. Go enjoy the rides with your girlfriend. You can pick it up later."

Peter was about to say something, but Mary Jane beat him to it. "Thanks, we'll be back later." Grabbing Peter's hand she all but forced him to follow her away from the booth.

Once they were far enough away, M.J. stopped. She had not let go of Peter's hand. She was surprised that his hand was somewhat calloused, yet still smooth.  _I've never noticed that before._

"I wasn't going to correct that guy on his assumption." Peter explained quietly. "It would have taken too long explaining anything anyway."

"Good." Now Mary Jane felt a bit embarrassed about what she had done, though it was not really a big deal. Letting go of his hand, she said, "Why don't we go on the Twister?"

So they went on more rides and just had a good time. After about two hours of rides, they simply walked around munching on popcorn. Mary Jane could hardly believe it was dusk already.

"I was shocked that you went on all the rides that put you high in the air. I mean with what happened before." Peter said giving her a sideways glance.

"Sometimes that time on the bridge still bothers me. I still have nightmares every now and then too."

"You still have nightmares?" Peter looked at her with surprise.

"Well, yes. I thought that I was going to die that day."

M.J. noticed her friend had a far away look in his blue eyes, before he turned away from her. Taking Peter's hand, she squeezed it gently. He turned back to look at her. If she did not know better, he had a look of guilt in his eyes, but why? Letting his hand go, Mary Jane said, "But I hardly dream about it anymore, Peter."

Nodding, Peter remained silent. Mary Jane knew he was not sure what to say. How could he? Peter had not even been there. But she wondered if Spider-Man had nightmares about that night.

"Peter, do you remember that message you left that night?"

"What message?"

Surprised, M.J. did not think Peter would forget about it, but maybe he had. "The message on my answering machine. You called because you wanted to see how I was, but I think you were worried about me. You said something before it clicked off. It was something like, 'Don't go into any dark alleys.' Why did you say that?"

"Ah…well, I was worried about you. I guess I just had a feeling that something might be wrong at your place." Peter glanced off in the distance again.

Mary Jane had heard before that two people could have a powerful bond with each other. She felt connected with Peter somehow, but she could not fully explain it. She loved him deeply, even passionately.

However, Peter only saw her as a friend. Yet, he had been concerned enough to call her that night long ago to leave that message. There was also that kiss they shared which had said something. Not to mention that things he had said to Spider-Man, when he told her about it. It seemed like Peter did care. And if Peter did love her, why did he say that they could only be friends?

"What happened then? You didn't just hang up, did you?" M.J. got back to the topic at hand, ignoring all the questions going through her mind.

Stiffening, Peter turned back to her. But he could not look her in the eye. He looked at his feet, like he was not sure how to answer. "The Green Goblin picked up the phone."

Inhaling sharply, M.J. went still. She hardly remembered that demonic monster in her apartment. But she remembered enough. "What did he say?" she asked in a whisper.

Peter still would not look at her. He remained quiet, obviously remembering that night. Would he answer her?

"Peter?" Mary Jane moved closer to him. Putting her hand on his cheek, she waited until he looked at her. Once she made eye contact with him, M.J. asked, "What was it?"

Still tense, Peter could not pull his gaze from hers. "He…uh…he said that," he paused for a minute before continuing, "He told me…that you were at the bridge. But before that he told me…to get Spider-Man."

"Oh, Peter…" It did not begin to even reach what she was trying to say. Feeling tears on her eyelashes, Mary Jane looked at him. Wanting to touch him again, she raised her hand, but it met air. One minute he was there, the next he gone. Now a few feet away from her, he did not make a move to come back. Peter did not want to be near her, whether from the emotional memory or because he did not want her touch, M.J. did not know. She did not move toward him.

"Mary Jane," his voice was quiet, near the breaking point. "I-I have to go." He started to back away to flee.

_Oh no, you don't, Peter Parker._

Grabbing his hand, Mary Jane said, "Peter, I didn't know you had a part in what happened that night. Maybe if I'd known…"

"M.J.-"

"Wait. If you hadn't called, then you would have never known to go find Spider-Man to help save those kids and me. So, just as I owe Spider-Man my life that night, I owe it to you too."

"Mary Jane, I-" But Peter never got to finish what he was about to say.

A scream split the air. Mary Jane let go of Peter's hand and turned her head toward the Ferris wheel. She was too far away to see what was happening.

Instinctively running in that direction, M.J. heard footsteps behind her. When she was closer she saw that the Ferris wheel was stuck. But that was not the thing that terrifying. A young child who must have tried to come down was up at the top of the wheel. He did not move, scared out of his mind. He screamed as he slid down the rail a bit, but stopped.

Looking behind her, Mary Jane did not see Peter. She saw many unknown faces, but not the one she sought. Hearing crying, M.J. could only guess it was the boy's mother that she heard.

"Look! It's Spider-Man!" Someone in the crowd shouted. Some other people agreed to the claim.

Mary Jane looked up - sure enough it was the masked hero. He was making his way toward the Ferris wheel by web-slinging from anything that was high enough. There was not much that he could use compared to the buildings of the nearby city, but he was making do. Reaching the Ferris wheel, Spider-Man made his way up to the terrified boy. The boy did not take long to let go of the rail and cling to Spidey. Shooting out some webbing on top of the ride, Spider-Man swung his way down to the ground. His feet had not touched the ground before a cheer went out.

The mother took her son in her arms. As she held her child close, she thanked the hero. Nodding, Spider-Man made his way over to the worker that was manning the Ferris wheel. Mary Jane didn't know what all was being said. Luckily not too long after that the ride started working again to let people off. Saluting to everyone in the crowd, Spider-Man shot out a web and was gone.

Looking around, M.J. did not see Peter. It was like he had disappeared. But she knew that that had not been the case. What they had discussed had bothered Peter so badly that he left when the kid had been stuck on the Ferris wheel. Mary Jane could not blame him. But she would have to talk to him some time, sooner or later.

She walked out of the fairgrounds, almost feeling a sense of déjà vu from her dream hours before. Walking some ways to a nearby street, she stopped walking. This time, she was going to hail a taxi. Getting a cab a minute later she told him to go to her apartment in the Village.

A half an hour later, Mary Jane was in her pajamas ready to turn out the light. Now alone in the darkness of her room, M.J. thought about what happened today. She was pretty sure she was going to have a hard time sleeping with all the thoughts going through her mind. She was wrong about that, because she fell asleep, maybe a minute or an hour later, she did not know.

Some time later something woke her. Listening, M.J. did not know what she heard, but it was something from outside. Giving a quick glance at her clock, it said 12:30.

Walking over to her balcony, Mary Jane listened for any type of noise. She did not hear anything. Pulling back her curtain, she gasped. There sitting on her chair on the small balcony sat her stuffed strawberry from the fair. Opening the door, she stepped out into the cool night air. It was dark, that is, it was as dark as Manhattan would get at night, with all the lights everywhere. Picking up the toy, Mary Jane hugged it close to herself. It had a faint smell that was all Peter's. Looking next to her balcony, M.J. looked at the fire escape. No one was there of course, it appeared as if it had been untouched.

Moving to the railing, Mary Jane looked down to the street. There was no one there. Sighing, she walked back into her apartment. Setting the stuffed strawberry down, Mary Jane's hand brushed a sticky spot.

"Cotton candy, no doubt," she said to stuffed toy. "But it was sweet of Peter to bring you here." Continuing on like she was talking to a friend, M.J. said, "Today was interesting for sure, right, Berry?"

She did not know where the name came in, but she figured the toy should have a name, and Berry suited him, or it. Berry just looked at her with its unseeing eyes.

"And it wasn't because Spider-Man was there. Even though I'm glad he rescued that child. But I enjoyed spending the day with Peter. But despite some of the stuff that happened today, I'll have to say this has been the best birthday I ever had."

**The End**

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Years ago when I wrote for Spider-Man I wrote this oneshot. This fic is quite dear to me because I thought it worked as a story for Peter and Mary Jane without it having it to be a romance only fic as well as giving a bittersweet ending.


End file.
